The Best Crockpot Meatloaf is a great way to enjoy classic comfort food, with less stress, and dinner is ready when you get home!
The most amazing meatloaf recipe, made so easily in your slow cooker! No more waiting over an hour for meatloaf after you get home from work.
Amazingly tender meatloaf, made easily in the crockpot!
Do you have a go-to dinner recipe? My family LOVES my baked mac and cheese, but sometimes I need something that isn’t pasta. That’s when I turn to this classic meatloaf recipe!
This recipe is amazingly flavorful and easy, thanks to using dried stuffing mix in place of breadcrumbs. It may seem odd, but all the great seasonings are already in the stuffing mix, so it’s several steps in one! The glaze on top of the meatloaf is lip-smackingly good; made with ketchup, minced onion, brown sugar and vinegar for a little tang.
WHY COOK MEATLOAF IN THE CROCKPOT?
I love cooking meatloaf in the crockpot for two main reasons. First, a meatloaf cooked in the crockpot is much more harder to “mess up” and be dry or tough. The cooking process of cooking in the crockpot lends to a much more tender and moist dish. Secondly, it’s ready when you get home. Traditional meatloaf takes an hour or more to bake, so if you wait until you get home to bake it, you’ll be having a LATE dinner. This way, dinner is mostly finished!
Plus, I can generally fit more beef into my crockpot than I can in my meatloaf pan.
How to Make Meatloaf in a Crockpot
Making meatloaf in a crockpot is SO easy! Using aluminum foil makes for easy cleanup, but it also helps you remove the crockpot so you can broil it at the end.
- Line crockpot with foil (heavy duty works best)
- Combine meatloaf ingredients, mix well, place in crockpot and shape into a loaf-shape.
- Top with glaze, cover, and cook.
- Lift out foil and broil to brown the top.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO COOK MEATLOAF IN THE CROCKPOT?
It depends on how big of a loaf you’re making, but for this 2lb meatloaf, it’ll take about 6 hours on LOW, or 3 hours on HIGH. If you have an instant read meat thermometer, check for doneness by cooking until meatloaf is at 160 F degrees.
CAN THIS MEATLOAF RECIPE BE MADE IN THE OVEN INSTEAD?
Absolutely! I’ve included oven directions following the recipe at the bottom of this post.
PRO TIPS FOR MAKING THE PERFECT CROCKPOT MEATLOAF:
- Use beef with a good ratio of beef to fat. I like to use 80/20 or 85/15, but no leaner. Beef that is too lean can lead to a drier meatloaf.
- Avoid over-mixing your meat. You only want to mix until the ingredients have just combined. Mixing too much will make the meatloaf tough.
- Use your hands to mix. Some people like to use a wooden spoon, but I find your hands are the best tools for the job. Wear latex/nitrile gloves if you don’t want meatloaf hands.
- Use milk if you can. I love the richness that milk lends to meatloaf. If you can’t use dairy, you could try substituting with a non-dairy milk, or use water/chicken broth/beef broth.
- Add a little bit of onion and the sauce to the meatloaf mixture itself. They both not only add flavor, but add moisture as well.
- Don’t skip the topping! The sauce is sweet and tangy, and really takes the meatloaf from good to great.
GREAT DISHES TO SERVE WITH MEATLOAF:
SHOP THE RECIPE:
- Slow Cooker – my favorite slow cooker.
- Heavy Duty Foil – I love using heavy duty foil so it doesn’t rip when you’re removing your meatloaf.
- Disposable gloves – save yourself some major hand scrubbing!
Recipe previously contributed for Spend With Pennies
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
MEATLOAF
- 2 lbs. ground beef
- 1 large yellow onion, finely minced
- 2 boxes (6 oz each) dried stuffing mix (I like the savory herbs variety)
- 1 1/3 - 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 Tbsp glaze (see below)
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
BROWN SUGAR KETCHUP GLAZE
- 1 1/2 cups ketchup
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp finely minced onion
- 1 Tbsp yellow mustard
- 2 tsp white vinegar
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Tear off a large strip of aluminum foil (heavy duty works well), and press it into the bottom and up two of the sides of a 6 quart or larger slow cooker. Spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray, then set aside.
- Combine all ketchup glaze ingredients in a small mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Add ground beef, minced onion, stuffing mix, milk, eggs, 2 Tbsp glaze, salt and pepper. Use your hands to mix until just combined.
- Shape into an oval-like shape and place into the foil lined crockpot. Top with ½ cup of the glaze, cover, and cook on LOW for 6 hours.
- When finished cooking, carefully lift out the meatloaf, using the foil overhang, and place on a baking sheet. Top with 2/3 cup of the glaze and broil until glaze is sticky and bubbly.
- Serve sliced, with remaining glaze sauce served on the side for drizzling.
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Chef Tips
Video
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Maria says
Hi there , my oven doesn’t work at the moment ! Can I still make this without broiling?
The Chunky Chef says
Yes, it just won’t have that sticky consistency to the glaze 🙂
Ambrosia says
Didn’t have foil on hand and still turned out perfect!!
Kylee Lewellen says
This recipe is amazing! It was so delicious!!
Sandy says
Would a casserole crockpot work instead of the deeper crockpots. I want to try this sounds delicious!
The Chunky Chef says
I haven’t tested this recipe in a casserole slow cooker, so I can’t say for certain, but I think it would work well 🙂
Stephanie Sayre says
Meatloaf was excellent
melanie Adams says
Love everything about this!! And the tang verses sweet is just right ! Thanks for sharing
Beverly says
Amanda always provides the best home cooked treasures that are comfort, tasty meals. They’re easy to prepare with ingredients I mostly have on-hand.
When I use Amanda offerings, I always have a happy family … and this meatloaf is no exception! They loved it with mashed & cornbread!
Thank you, Amanda … my Go-To for Great Recipes!!
Mary says
My family prefers the cornbread stuffing mix. Would this work for your recipe?
The Chunky Chef says
I haven’t tested it using that particular variety, but it should function the same way. Can’t speak to the flavor, since it hasn’t been tested though. If you do some experimenting, I’d love to know how it turns out!
Jeanne Brockett says
Love your crockpot meatloaf. It is the absolute best. Every time I make it, I am asked for the recipe.
Can’t wait to try your other recipes. Thank you.
Susan says
We loved it! Easy to fix too!
Stacey says
I would love to try this today, but I do not have any stuffing. Do I have to use the stuffing?
The Chunky Chef says
You don’t have to, but that would be a whole other recipe, and not what this was developed and tested for 🙂 I believe some other readers have left comments in the past with how they altered the recipe to not use stuffing, so I’d check there to see what they did.
Amy Jo says
I made this today but in the oven & was delicious…thank you!
Rollene Gregorie says
Great recipe for meatloaf thank you.
Frederick Mavis says
awsome going to try at least on recipe a week
Kami says
I use a Crock-Pot liner and then the foil as directed so I can get it out of the crockpot at the end. No problems at all!
Pamela says
I made this last night following the directions almost exactly. I added chopped broccoli to get some vegetables in. I didn’t have stuffing, so I used seasoned bread crumbs. I was surprised at how moist it turned out.
Joan Neufeldt says
We were out of our home due to a house fire and had no oven. This crockpot meatloaf recipe became a go to for us, and encouraged me to use my crockpot more often.
Karen Petro says
Can you use a crock pot bag ?
The Chunky Chef says
I haven’t tested this recipe using a bag, so I can’t say for certain whether how well it would work or if any changes would need to be made. If you do some experimenting, I’d love to know how it turns out 🙂
Polly says
Absolutely a hit in our home. It was delicious.
Laura says
Loved this. Hit with the family.